Poverty and Strength

Mom was born in a small Texas border town in 1915. She was the eldest child. She had two younger sisters and a younger brother.

Mom´s family was very, very poor. During the depresssion, her father found occasional work as a migrant farm worker. For a short time he found work laying rails for the railroad.

On several occasions, they lived with her father´s mother. Great grandma lived to be 115 years old.

Mom´s mother worked all of her life. She often took in laundry and sewing. Grandma was quiet and demure, yet she was innovative in finding ways to help provide for their family. They had nowhere to live. They were truly migrant. In the early 1930´s, they had moved from relative to relative. This included in the backyards of relatives´ homes. They slept on dirt floors or on panels of wood. They had no indoor kitchen or bathroom. Grandma cooked outside in the yard on a wood fire. For a restroom, the children used the open fields.

When mom was 14, her family moved to San Antonio. Grandma found a job working in a sewing factory. Soon, the factory needed more help and she brought mom into the factory to work with her. Nights and weekends, they took in laundry and ironing. They worked from morning until night, every day. Mom helped her mother by delivering the laundry when her mother was finished.

The family saved their money and soon saved $35 and bought a small, one room shack. It was located behind a group of stores on west side San Antonio. This was their family´s first home. They decorated it neatly. Their family was happy to be living in the first home of their own.

Their family was hard working and always innovative in making something out of nothing. They believed in God and Family and they were always grateful for what they had. These were family traits passed on from generation to generation. Mom passed them along to her children and future generations.